Let-off motion for looms



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RENSSELAER REYNOLDS, OF STOOKPORT, NEW' YORK.

LET-.OFF MOTION FOR LOOlVIS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 32,882, dated May 21, 1861.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, RENSSELAER REYNOLDS,

l iof Stockport, in the county of Columbia and Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Let-Off Motion of Power-Looms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-m Figure 1, is a side view of a let-off motion and all the parts of a power loom necessary to illustrate its application, taken immediately within the end frame of the loom. Fig. 2, is a front view of the same representing the framing in section. Fig. 3, is a plan of the let-off mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

My invention consists in certain improved means of communicating to the yarn beam a positive motion which shall be so controlled by the tension of the yarn that the letting off of the yarn shall be so regulated as to insure the weaving of any number of picks to the inch that may be desired under all conditions, such means being also capable of ready adjustment to vary the number of picks and possessing other advantages which will be hereinafter explained.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A. A. are the end frames, of the loom.

B. is the back rail.

C. is the yarn beam having at one end a worm gear D. and arranged in fixed bearings in the usual position. E. is the whip roll arranged in bearings in the two arms a, c, of a rock shaft F. which is arranged in fixed bearings in the end frames A. A.

G. is the lower or cam shaft occupying the usual position in the loom.

H. is a disk secured to the cam shaft Gr.

I. is a shaft having firmly secured to it an endless screw gearing-with the worm gear D. on the yarn beam, and having litted to it to slide longitudinally but not to turn upon it a friction roll K. the periphery of which is intended to work in contact with the disk H. that the said shaft may derive motion from the said disk through the friction of the said disk and roll K. for the purpose of transmitting motion to the yarn beam by the endless screw J. and worm gear D.v The shaft I. is arranged in a stand L. which is pivoted byan upright pivot l), to the back rail B. of the loom for the purpose of enabling the shaft to oscillate toward and from the disk H. that its friction roll K. may be brought into and out of contact with the said disk. The said stand has bearing against it a spring M. which is secured to the back rail B. for the purpose of exerting a constant tendency to keep the friction roll K. out of contact with the disk H. The disk may have its operating face flat as represented, or beveled. The friction roll K. has .its periphery faced with leather or indiarubber to enable it to adhere sufficiently to or produce the necessary friction upon the face of the disk to enable it to derive rotary motion therefrom;l it is fitted to its shaft I. with a groove and feather. The hub of the said roll is grooved, as s hown at c', in Figs. 1 and 3 to receive the fork c, o, which is provided on an elbow piece S. which is connected by a pin d, with an elbow lever N. which works on a fixed fulcrum (Z, near the iioor. The upper end of this elbow lever is furnished with a roll O. which held against the yarn on the beam C. by a weight I). hung on the lower arm of the said lever; and the said lever by means of the forked elbow piece S. is made to hold the roll K:

nearer to or farther -from the center of the` disk I-I. according as there is more or less yarn on the beam, so that the movement derived by the said roll from the disk H. and transmitted to the yarn, will be less or greater according ast-he quantity of yarn on the beam and the circumference of the outer coils thereof is greater or less, and the quantity of yarn let off by the beam will be always the same with agiven amount of movement.

Q. is a lever working on a fixed fulcrum j, secured inside of the end frame of the loom near which the shaft I. is situated. This lever' has its upper arm slotted as shown at e, in Fig. 1, for the reception of a pin f, which is secured to an arm It. of the rock shaft F. This pin f, is adjustable in a slot g, provided for it in the arm R.; and the said arm and -slotted portion of the lever Q. are so formed that the slots c, and g, will range nearly opposite to each other so that by adjusting the pin f, in the slot g, nearer to or farther from the rock shaft F. it will be moved in the slot e, to a position farther from' or nearer to the fulcrum y', of the lever Q. The lower arm of the said lever Q. is l ing produced by moving the disk toward the situated behind an arm la, which projects from one side of the sta-nd L.; and the said lever and arm are kept in contact by the pressure of the spring M. upon the stand L. and the action of the strain of the warp through the whip roll E. rock-shaft F. and arm R. upon the lever Q.

The operation of the let-off motion is as follows. The tension of the warp acts to pull forward the whip roll and the arms a, a, of the rock shaft F. and so to throw back the arm R. of the said rock shaft and cause the said arm so to act upon the lever Q. as to make the latter force the rollerK. toward the constantly revolving disk H. in opposition to the spring M. and hence the said roller can only come into contact with the disk and cause the yarn beam to receive the necessary motion for letting offI when the tension of the warp is suflicient to overcome the force of the spring which will seldom be the case but while and a short time before and after the shed is opened to its full width. The time which the roller remains in contact with the disk and consequently the amount of movement of the yarn beam is always in proportion to the tension of the warp and hence the slightest increase of tension is met by an increased amount of let-off and vice versa so that any appreciable increase of tension is prevented and the let off continues uniform thereby positively causing a certain number of picks of filling to be inserted in a given length of the warp. The amount oflet-oflI is varied by moving the pin f, up or down the slots g, e. By moving this pin upward the leverage of the arms a, a, and R. of the rock shaft is increased relatively to the leverage of the lever Q. and hence the tension of the warp is caused to be more effective in overcoming the force of the counteracting spring M. and the' roller K. is kept longer in contact with the disk H. thereby causing 'the yarn beam to let off more yarn and making lighter work. By moving the said pin f, down toward the fulcrum of the lever Q. the opposite effect is produced and the weft is put 'in closer, producing heavier work. A similar effect to that produced by shifting the pin f, as above described is produced by moving the disk H. along the shaft G. toward or from the roller K., an increased movement of the beam beroller and vice versa. A

This let-olf motion presents especial convenience for `letting backv the yarn beam whenever by any injury to the web it becomes necessary to do so. This is effected by simply taking hold of the roller K.. while the latter is out of contact with the disk and turning it by hand in the opposite direction to that in which it is turned by the disk, and can be done by the weaver without any exertion and without requiring her to move around to the back of the loom, an advantage over all other let-off motions known to me. Another advantage consists `in its being impossible for the weaver to alter it to vary the amount of product (a common trick) without using a wrench to move the stud f, or disk H. And besides possessing the above advantages, it is simple, and easily understood and adjusted, durable and very correct in its operation.

I will here mention that the let-off motion operates very satisfactorily without the lever N. and with the friction roller K. fast upon its shaft I. but in some cases as in the weaving of the finest kinds of goods, I prefer to use the movable roller and the lever N.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

l. The shaft I. with its friction roll K. and endless screw J. supported in a laterally oscillating stand L. and applied in combination with the yarn beam and with a constantly revolving disk H. on the cam shaft G. or other suitably arranged shaft, and operating ysubstantially as herein described.

2. Combining the oscillating whip roll E. with the oscillating stand L. by means of a slotted arm R. slotted lever Q. and adjustable stud f, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

3. The arrangement of the spring M. in combination with the laterally oscillating stand L. lever Q. rock shaft and arms-F. R. a, a, and whip roll E. for the purpose of counteracting the effect of tension of the yarn on the whip roll substantially as herein described.

RENssELAER REYNOLDS. 

